Josep Guardiola absent from Manchester City’s Friday press conference ahead of this weekend’s Premier League game against Crystal Palace due to ‘personal issues’
Manager Josep Guardiola will be absent from Manchester City’s pre-match press conference ahead of their Premier League game against Crystal Palace due to “personal issues”. The team’s preparations for Sunday’s trip to Selhurst Park are not expected to be affected.
As planned, Guardiola will lead the team at Selhurst Park with support from Pep Lijnders, Kolo Toure and James French. Toure has been in charge of media duties in Guardiola’s absence and will make his first public address since being promoted to the first team last summer.
The former City and Arsenal defender began his coaching career as assistant to Brendan Rodgers and, after a short and unsuccessful spell at Wigan Athletic, returned to the Etihad in 2024 as assistant to Under-18s manager Oli Rees. Toure was promoted to bridge the gap between the academy of young players training under Guardiola and the first team after Carlos Vicens left to take charge of Portugal’s Braga at the end of last season.
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His position became permanent after the Club World Cup and he has been an important part of the coaching staff ever since. “Before the season started, we sat down with Txiki (Begiristain), Hugo (Viana) and the head of coaching, Coro. He now plays a very important role because he knows the players well. And the four players are the focus of our training,” academy director Thomas Cracken revealed to the Manchester Evening News in October.
“EDS trains next to the first team every day, so it’s easy for us and for Pep to get the players he needs. The door to the first team is always open. I think we have a great interface.”
“Colo plays an important role, but Pep Lijnders also has a huge amount of experience from his season with Liverpool and previous seasons. He is an expert in working with young players. We have regular meetings with Hugo, Pep Lijnders and Coro, who is responsible for the coaching of Jose, who is the head of individual player development.”
City will be looking to keep the pressure on Premier League leaders Arsenal when they face Crystal Palace on Sunday afternoon. Last week’s win against Sunderland narrowed the gap to just two points.
This weekend, the Gunners are heavy favorites to seek their 11th win of the season when they host Wolves on Saturday night. However, City are Mikel Arteta’s side’s closest rivals alongside Aston Villa.
But Guardiola admitted City’s recent form has not changed their momentum. “Listen, when you talk about the NBA, you play 80 games,” he told TNT Sports.
“There are a lot of games where they lose, but nothing happens. It’s about process. Here in European culture, just like in basketball and football, we lost in the Premier League two weeks ago (against Newcastle United) and now all of a sudden we’re the favorites[to win the Premier League again]?”
“That’s fine, but you’re completely wrong. It’s not because I have to talk about having ‘momentum’. Of course I have to because the station pays so much of my salary, and all of our salaries.”
“I completely understand, but at the beginning of December no one is champions. Of course you can say it’s better to be two points behind Arsenal than 12 points, but that’s clear. Whenever you’re at the top of the league, whenever you’re close to it, it’s better.”
“It’s a shame that we lost to Leverkusen[in the Champions League]because we were second to Arsenal in the Champions League and second in the Premier League. We have players who are improving and that’s great.”
“That’s the way I think about it. If we lose to Crystal Palace this weekend, I can’t think about[what it means]. Is it because we’re tired, are we distracted, are they good? If we lose, will Man City’s season be over? Isn’t the team the same as before?”
“Of course we are not the same. We have destroyed casinos in the last few years. So it is normal that our benchmarks, our standards are very high… But we are there. What matters is being there and growing. Every month has to be better than the previous month. That’s what matters.”
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